Mare's HATE each other - what can we do?

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jm2k

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HELLO Let me get right to it. Back in October my husband bought a 5yr old mare halflinger,I have a 6yrold mare arab/morgan. they still are not getting along. The arab/morgan backs down but the halflinger still keeps coming at her. Now the husbands talking about getting rid of the halflinger (I dont want him to ).Said the arab/morgans there first. They both get along great with our 3 donkeys. I dont want the hubby to hate either of us. Last night the halflinger had the arab/morgan pinned to the side of the barn. The arab/morgan was so frecked out. Thankfully my oh was there, he throw a bottle at the halflinger to get her away. We have a small fenced in pastor maybe 2 1/2 acres we both work so the only time to let them out is when we get home. Any ideas how to stop this.

This was seen on facebook group VANAH asking for help and advice? thanks
 
haffy definitely having dominant hierarchy issues there - have you noticed their seasons regulate or not?

I would suggest getting haffy on to regumate or some sort of magnesium supplement. haffy's aren't well known for aggressive behaviour..
 
tallyho! said:
haffy definitely having dominant hierarchy issues there - have you noticed their seasons regulate or not?

I would suggest getting haffy on to regumate or some sort of magnesium supplement. haffy's aren't well known for aggressive behaviour..
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i have requested more info on their seasons and feeding, but will post your answer to them as i thought it maybe to do with the hormones rather than just not liking each other.
 
You may have to accept that the mares do not like each other and nothing will change.
In the wild, mares are the dominant ones and one tends to take over to lead and be in charge of the herd.

Basically if both mares want to be dominant and NEITHER will give in then they are never going to settle. Its a bit like people really! Sometimes there is a personality clash.

I have 2 mares and they share a field, but one is boss and if the other challenges then there is trouble, so the under dog knows her place and doesn't challenge the leader.
 
The problem is that even though the morgan backs down, she cannot get away. In the wild she would be driven out of the herd by the other mare. This will never be resolved as the dominant mare thinks that she is still there through defiance, not because she cannot get away and your morgan will probably be mortally injured if you do not separate them.
 
Separate them. If this is not possible,k sell one i this is an option. Sorry but if they are not getting on months later, they are unlikely to and you will end up with a serious injur/.
 
I had a problem when my mare was put into a herd of 5 others when i moved her to a new yard. An arab constantly fixed on her and then ran her out. After two weeks of this, I became tired of it and asked the arab owner to move her horse out for a couple of weeks. She was happy to do this as she could see what was going on. This gave my mare time to bond with the others - after a couple of weeks we put just my mare in with the arab and because the arab had been kept away from the others, they bonded quite well. After a week, we then moved them both into the herd and they now eat the same blade of grass - it worked a treat, although I'm not experienced enough to say whether it would work for everyone - but if the situation arose, I would definitely try it again.
 
jm2k said:
fine for a temporary measure but not forever!
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Whyever not? I would love all seven of the horses at my yard to be in one happy herd, but life is not like that and unfortunately for the good of the horses they have to be in two herds of three and one on his own. If I kept them as I would like, in one herd, I would have one or more dead horses by now. If you are lucky, you can have one happy herd, but the horses often have other ideas. Inconvenient, but part of responsible keeping of horses.
 
mmmmmm holly hocks if this was poss for OP i say yAay as great thinking from you but mmm I think you need to either sell one or introduce another to the milder mare - maybe only short term - let them bond then introduce the lead mare - BUT get them both checked by vet as this needs to be looked at from season hormone side - personally i love mixed herds - my mare and gelding are in same field along with 10 other mares and geldings an its bliss yep you get some high spirits you get change of lead mare and you get squirty mares lol but at mo baby( though this will disappear soon) is lead mare (for once lol) - ideal world for horses and im lucky :)
 
i had a major problem with my mixed herd of 8, one mare would constantly pick on another one. try running her out, attacking her, very viciously. poor weaker mare was covered in bites, and constantly harrassed. rest of herd started turning against her and it became a major problem.... and they all shared an 14 acre field so enough room for all! i had bought both mares at same time and splitting field was not an option. i decided one had to go but then by chance both mares became lame and needed box rest, so they lived next to each other in box for 2 weeks - i cut hole in side of stable and fitted metal bars so they could see each other. hey presto it worked! the dominant mare is still dominant with weaker mare but both now settled and tolerate each other. interestingly the weaker mare is very skittish and leaps about alot, never walks always canters. i think dominant mare was peeved at her.
 
I had this problem 2 years ago, but it was geldings, as the mare was the boss. My sisters horse just abused my baby, he was only 2, and was being viciously attacked all the time, I took him away, and recently took him back, as great hacking where mam and dad live. have to keep him on his own, as the other "ass***e" just went for him the second he came out of the box. said Ass***e doesnt do this to any other horse. My poor spirit, and all he wants are new friends!! He'll be coming back to my place in a few weeks, just needed quiet hacking to get him going, with a bit of traffic, so he'll get used to it. Once thats done, I have a mountain on my back garden, with just 5 mins road work, but cars travel fairly fast on it, hence the need to get him used to traffic first. My dad wants to drive him in harness, aghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!If he goes well, he'll steal him on me!!!
 
Wagtail said:
Whyever not? I would love all seven of the horses at my yard to be in one happy herd, but life is not like that and unfortunately for the good of the horses they have to be in two herds of three and one on his own. If I kept them as I would like, in one herd, I would have one or more dead horses by now. If you are lucky, you can have one happy herd, but the horses often have other ideas. Inconvenient, but part of responsible keeping of horses.
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i think the original post explained the turn-out situation??
 
all great replies and i will forward the suggestions to the person who raised the issues and see what he can work out - and i think he would give all the options a try rather than sell one.

personally - apart from a few teething issues when i bought a new horse, (i used to have 2 geldings, 2 mares - one mare died a year ago and bought a new gelding this year), they have always got on quite well. they still 'bully' my new boy, and being a 4yr old baby he doesnt know quite what to do but i also blame them on being OAP 17yr old misery guts. they have been established as a group for 17 years so to accept a new boy has been quite good going for them :)
 
jm2k said:
i think the original post explained the turn-out situation??
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You say he has a fenced in area of around 2.5 acres? Is that right? Can he not split it with electric fencing? The fact is, if he does not separate the mares, either by splitting the turnout area or by selling one of them, then he is going to end up with a serious injury.

Maybe I don't understand the situation. I don't understand why they horses only get turned out when he returns from work either. So sorry, no. The OP does not explain the TO situation at all clearly.
 
Wagtail said:
You say he has a fenced in area of around 2.5 acres? Is that right? Can he not split it with electric fencing? The fact is, if he does not separate the mares, either by splitting the turnout area or by selling one of them, then he is going to end up with a serious injury.

Maybe I don't understand the situation. I don't understand why they horses only get turned out when he returns from work either. So sorry, no. The OP does not explain the TO situation at all clearly.
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as stated, this was a cross-post from VANAH and copied their question to HH for help.
"We have a small fenced in pastor maybe 2 1/2 acres we both work so the only time to let them out is when we get home"
i take to presume they can only be turned out when they get home from work in the evening (?) but dont know if they are out all night until they go to work the next day, or if they are only turned out for few hours but cannot be turned out 14/7 due to sun,weather,?
 
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